To get a good sear on a steak in a pan, the pan doesn’t have to be super hot, you just have to make sure the contact surfaces are as dry as possible.
If your stew tastes like it’s missing something, it’s bay leaf.
Don’t buy hyperspecialized tools for cooking if you can use more generalized tool for the task with the same amount of effort. You can do a lot with a good chef’s knife.
Cut through greasiness with a bit of acid.
Adding a little bit of sugar, but not so much you can taste the sweetness, to otherwise salty dishes will mellow out and enhance the flavor of the dish.
Can you give more details on searing the steak? I get a good sear in some spots, usually on the rim of the steak. The middle turns out greyish-brown sometimes.
Sure. First, cast iron pan is a must, since it has a high heat capacity because of its weight.
Your issue is the uneven distribution of heat, so use enough oil is important, at least as much to cover the bottom of the pan evenly.
Second thing is salt, if you salt it too early, it’s going to absorb the water from the meat and create wet spots, which would be steamed instead of seared. Dryness is the key here, you either want to salt the steak immediately before adding it to the shimmering oil, or you can salt it and leave it uncovered in the fridge for a couple of hours for the it to dry off.
If the center is gray it’s simply not touching the pan. Forget most of the lore and go with the science - you need the surface of the meat to reach 300F (150C) to create the Maillard reaction which is the “good” browning.
Your pan should be hot (350-400F) to quickly boil off the surface moisture because any liquid water at the surface of the meat will prevent the temperature from rising above boiling point.
Heavier pans will lose temperature less quickly (steel/iron, copper), and highly conductive pans (Aluminum, copper) will transfer the heat from your burner to your food more evenly.
heat transfer on the stovetop is via conduction. Any part you want to cook at the temperature of the pan must be in contact with the pan. If you need to press down with a spatula or a weight on top to keep contact, go for it - but just enough to flatten, you don’t want to drive moisture out. (see point one, above)
Adding a thin coating of oil will increase the conduction between the pan and the meat. Micropores and surface irregularity will prevent complete contact with the pan; oil fills these micropores and allows more uniform heat transfer.
When you flip the meat, make sure it lands on a previously unused portion of the pan. Where the meat is has been cooled by the meat itself, the area of the pan next to it is hotter.
Don’t move or slide the meat around. Set it in place and leave it. I can’t remember the science on this (oops)
Proteins on the surface are what form the Maillard reaction. Salting the meat will draw moisture to the surface and will also pull some proteins with it. The timing and drying and whatnot to get maximum protein on the surface is the subject of debate, but if you salt, give it a little time to work.
I dry, salt with Diamond kosher, sit for ~5 mins (prob too short, but I sous vide so I don’t want the steak to cool too much), wipe on a very thin coat of EV Olive Oil then sear for about a minute a side on a 400F pan. I use both cast iron and non-stick aluminum on a 15,000BTU burner and find very little difference in the final result. YMMV
Sorry for the off topic, but do I understand correctly that this account is being used by multiple people on Margot Robbie’s team to post and comment, and ultimately attract attention for the Barbie movie? If I have that right, that’s a really great marketing strategy that I haven’t seen before. It would be cool if you could find a way to let us know how it works out.
How can you be so sure of anything you read on the Internet?
I can’t be, which is why I was asking.
What do you think the point I’m trying to make is here?
I scanned through your profile, comments, and posts. The profile itself says it’s staffed by a team to market the movie. You made a whole bunch of posts without commenting on them initially, so I assume it was to get conversation going. Some of the comments reference the movie, but most are like the one above that seem to be good faith attempts to answer questions.
So I don’t know, but there’s at least an implication that the account is designed to get people talking, and maybe notice the account name, getting some attention for her work. The other leading option would be that you have no association with Margot Robbie at all and are just screwing with people.
But that’s all just me reading and guessing. You’re the one who can actually answer: what is the point you’re trying to make?
To get a good sear on a steak in a pan, the pan doesn’t have to be super hot, you just have to make sure the contact surfaces are as dry as possible.
If your stew tastes like it’s missing something, it’s bay leaf.
Don’t buy hyperspecialized tools for cooking if you can use more generalized tool for the task with the same amount of effort. You can do a lot with a good chef’s knife.
Cut through greasiness with a bit of acid.
Adding a little bit of sugar, but not so much you can taste the sweetness, to otherwise salty dishes will mellow out and enhance the flavor of the dish.
Can you give more details on searing the steak? I get a good sear in some spots, usually on the rim of the steak. The middle turns out greyish-brown sometimes.
Sure. First, cast iron pan is a must, since it has a high heat capacity because of its weight.
Your issue is the uneven distribution of heat, so use enough oil is important, at least as much to cover the bottom of the pan evenly.
Second thing is salt, if you salt it too early, it’s going to absorb the water from the meat and create wet spots, which would be steamed instead of seared. Dryness is the key here, you either want to salt the steak immediately before adding it to the shimmering oil, or you can salt it and leave it uncovered in the fridge for a couple of hours for the it to dry off.
If the center is gray it’s simply not touching the pan. Forget most of the lore and go with the science - you need the surface of the meat to reach 300F (150C) to create the Maillard reaction which is the “good” browning.
I dry, salt with Diamond kosher, sit for ~5 mins (prob too short, but I sous vide so I don’t want the steak to cool too much), wipe on a very thin coat of EV Olive Oil then sear for about a minute a side on a 400F pan. I use both cast iron and non-stick aluminum on a 15,000BTU burner and find very little difference in the final result. YMMV
Sorry for the off topic, but do I understand correctly that this account is being used by multiple people on Margot Robbie’s team to post and comment, and ultimately attract attention for the Barbie movie? If I have that right, that’s a really great marketing strategy that I haven’t seen before. It would be cool if you could find a way to let us know how it works out.
How can you be so sure of anything you read on the Internet?
What do you think the point I’m trying to make is here?
I can’t be, which is why I was asking.
I scanned through your profile, comments, and posts. The profile itself says it’s staffed by a team to market the movie. You made a whole bunch of posts without commenting on them initially, so I assume it was to get conversation going. Some of the comments reference the movie, but most are like the one above that seem to be good faith attempts to answer questions.
So I don’t know, but there’s at least an implication that the account is designed to get people talking, and maybe notice the account name, getting some attention for her work. The other leading option would be that you have no association with Margot Robbie at all and are just screwing with people.
But that’s all just me reading and guessing. You’re the one who can actually answer: what is the point you’re trying to make?